Humpback Whale in Old Montreal

All of Montreal is in shock and awe at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view a live humpback whale, swimming in the St. Lawrence River in Old Montreal.

My husband and I first discovered the whale while on a walk last Saturday, to the Montreal Clock Tower. It was love at first sight for me. I went back twice the following Monday, once early in the morning and then again in the early evening. It was breaching over and over in the evening, and everyone was hypnotized by this show. When I got home, I read that the reason they breach is they are making noise to locate their pod. Our new friend is very lost. I am optimistic, however, that there are enough people in Quebec’s scientific community, and the Coast Guard, who care enough about this mammal to do whatever they can to help it on its way. The last time a whale showed up in Montreal was 2012—a young beluga. It stayed for two weeks and left on its own—hopefully our humpback will do the same.

Montreal Wedding at the Mount Stephen Club

S+J had a gorgeous wedding ceremony and reception at Montreal’s Bar George, located in the elegant Mount Stephen Club.

I’m not going to lie, I was extra excited for this September wedding. Sandra is a professional couturier—she made her own wedding dress by hand! I am blown away by this woman’s talent. I know her friends are also fashion minded, so I came prepared to document this wedding in a red carpet, photojournalistic style. S+J are both artists, so naturally we walked over to the Golden Square Mile and the Musée des Beaux-Arts to take their wedding portraits. We had fun using the public art in playful and light-hearted fashion. Good times were had by all.

Josh is a professional saxophonist, so naturally their jazz band was on point. The reception was cool and loungy—punctuated with great conversation, smooth tunes, and delicious cocktails. This wedding was the perfect coming together of both of their artistic sensibilities, that was 100% them for all to enjoy and remember.

All photos taken by myself and my second shooter, Danila, and edited by me.

Kat + Sorin's Pub Style Montreal Wedding

Friday, September 13 was a very lucky day for Kat + Storin’s Montreal wedding. We were blessed with sunny skies, good health and everyone in high spirits. The whole day ran like clockwork.

For our bridal party photos, we headed to Notre-Dame-de-Grâce’s Girouard Park to enjoy the greenery and public art. The reception was held in a beautiful brick venue with large windows and pretty fairy lights, located near Place des Arts called, Kin Coworking. In place of a formal sit-down dinner, they opted for a buffet of oysters, charcuterie and fine cheeses. Gallons of Jameson whisky and delicious craft beer were enjoyed. The guys from Grumpy’s Bar took care of serving everyone. For a midnight snack, pizza was provided by everyone’s favourite, Pizza Prima, another NDG staple. It was a relaxed day where friends and family could let their hair down, catch up and kick it into high gear on the dance floor to System of a Down and the Dropkick Murphy’s, and slow dance to The Righteous Brothers and Etta James.

1 Year in the Fizz Bizz

It takes a lot of guts, drive and determination to start your own business. I was thrilled to be invited to photograph this event in Pointe Claire, for a fellow female entrepreneur. The event was in celebration of her successful first year in business.

It is really true—if you want something bad enough, keep focused, and over time that momentum will manifest into the thing that you set out to accomplish. Just look at all that Tiff has achieved in only a year. Truly inspiriting!

Rich, Romantic, Radiant Wedding

A huge congratulations to my clients, Lison + Antoine, for tying the knot after being together for so many years! We had a wonderful time on a particularly hot and humid June afternoon, taking portraits before their relaxed, unique ceremony in Old Montreal.

An Elegant Evening in May

Congratulations to the lovely couple, Borsha and Nicholas! It was a pleasure to shoot their quaint and elegant wedding reception; as the second shooter for Tania Stratti, of Tania Stratti Photography.

Graduating Portfolio

The Dawson College Professional Photography Program last for two years, or four semesters. It all culminates into one final portfolio that each student is required to produce. This portfolio demonstrates what we have learned throughout the program, and to of course, is intended to be used get us work once we step out into the real world. It’s something that the teachers talk to us about from day one, so, no pressure!

I wanted to do a documentary portfolio on the effects of fast fashion on the environment, but, having only two and a half months to make this baby, I decided to keep it simple and indulge in my love of studio portrait photography. My intention was for this portfolio to be a portrait of Montreal, since a city is nothing without the people who live inside it. I photographed 21 subjects over the course of the semester and boiled it down to these final eleven images.

Graduation class of 2019

This spring, I had the honour of taking the portraits of my graduating class. I present to you, the 2019 grads class of the Dawson College Commercial Photography Program! We did it! A big thank you to my assistant, Kathy Verville Normand! It’s a bit tricky to try and take a group shot when you need to be in it as well!

Click Flash Photography turns 1-year-old!

One year ago today I made my dream come true by launching my own business. What a roller coaster ride it has been! It takes a lot of guts to work freelance, to never know when the next job will be coming in. But, when you look at what you’ve earned and know that the money in your bank account is there because you hustled, doing something you love- it’s beyond gratifying. I learn so much from every shoot that I do. My skills as a professional photographer have expanded by leaps and bounds, and continue to grow day by day. I realize this is a slow grind. I follow in the footsteps of other professional photographers who have gone up this path before me. I realize I have to be humble, that it will take several more years, if not decades to truly become “successful”, but the universe rewards those who put themselves out there, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. Full. Speed. Ahead.

My favourite part of this year has been the people I’ve met and got to interact with as a result of my photography career. I am curious by nature and love people. I consider these people to not just be clients, but friends. I couldn’t have done it without your help and support.

Composite Imaging

The challenge: shoot a model and product in studio, and match with a pre-existing background. Sounds easy, right? I love yoga, and it just so happens that my friend, Stephanie, is an extremely talented yogini, so, we made it happen!

Festival de la Mode 2016

This was a fantastic evening, about two years ago. A real life changer. I met so many amazing new people, most of whom I’m still in contact with today. Shooting for Best Kept Mtl, alongside a swath of talented photographers was exhilarating, challenging, and something that I decided that I never wanted to stop doing. Here are a few of my favourite shots of the evening. This fashion show in particular was organized by Tristan Ginger, and features handmade corsets by the incredibly talented Sandra Chirico.

Pushing the Envelope

Intrigued by what endless creative possibilities Photoshop has to offer, I combined my love of portrait photography with my Fine Arts background and came up with this portrait series.

Editorial Portrait Assignment

A recently completed school assignment. The objective: to produce a portrait that would be suitable for the cover of a magazine using flash and ambient light on location. My good friend, Stephanie, makes me think of all the brave entrepreneurial women out there, running their own successful online startup. Gone are the days of perms and power suits, put on your jean jacket, grab your laptop, dream big and make it happen!

Griffintown : Summer 2018

Constant change in Griffintown. Construction for days. Condos for as far as the eye can see. This used to be a wide open, grassy green space. But, if you can't beat it, better well embrace it.

Model: Stephen Ellingson

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COMPOSITE IMAGE - FINE ART

The Decisive Moment : Event Photography

Hootenanny! at Brasserie Beaubien and Butterflies Go Free at the Botanical Gardens

ISO 6400, 50 mm, f/ 4.0, 1/60 sec

ISO 10000, 50 mm, f/ 1.4, 1/125 sec

ISO 1000, 70mm, f/ 11, 1/320 sec

ISO 1000, 70 mm, f/ 11, 1/400 sec

Memories

Genetic Memory

Mood Board

Environmental Portrait

I learned so much from doing this assignment for my Applied Location Photography class. It was my first time photographing with off-camera flash in the field—and it went off without a hitch! I love using flash, I find it adds so much dimension to a photo. It's definitely my long-term goal to get continually better and better at it (for more information on flash photography check out The Strobist blog.)

Secondly, and most importantly, this was an excellent experience for me to work with someone who isn't used to being photographed all the time. I approached Maya for this assignment and she graciously agreed to be my subject. We were both nervous. It's never my goal to capture photos with fake, posed smiles. I want my subject to be natural and at ease. Along with her business partner, Stephanie, Maya runs a boutique and Atelier in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood. I wanted to capture Maya's excitement, pride and joy for being a part of this space. It's not a large space but they use every inch of it to their advantage to create and sell their art, alongside with art from local artisans that they love and admire. After chatting for a bit and taking a few warm-up photos we both got really into the shoot and had a great time making these photographs happen. I'm very happy with the end result. (For more information on Maya and her art, please visit the Mayamorphosis blog.)

Off-camera flash workshop

The second semester of my Commercial Photography program began two weeks ago and wasted no time in getting back to serious business. As well as continuing to learn more advanced editing techniques in Adobe Lightroom, we have started to learn how to wield off-camera flash. I am very excited about the potential and possibilities that this tool holds. Flash adds so much depth, detail and dimension to a photo. I have had my Nikon SB-800 Speedlight for several years now and up until this point have only sort-of known what I was doing with it. I learning by experimenting with bounce flash off of different surfaces and by mashing random buttons to achieve the desired effect. After this weekend's workshop I now know precisely what I am doing. To add/subtract ambient light adjust shutter speed. Changing from a wide angle to telephoto lens: there's a button to direct the appropriate amount of light needed to cover an area.

I love photography for this reason, it's a perfect blend of science and art. 

I had a great time photographing Josée in one heck of an ugly school cafeteria. I think we successfully made the best of an ugly situation!

Ambient light only (we were using the stained-glass windows for added effect)

Flash with ambient light

Dominant flash

I think there's a rule somewhere about not mixing stripes with plaid... oh well!

Stacks and stacks of cafeteria chairs

Hello, Dominos?

Very inspiring bulletin board

Hanger anyone?

Is it spring outside yet?

Table for one